Tendinosis Cycle

Tendonitis may be a better-known condition than tendinosis, but the latter is the true diagnosis for an “itis” which has developed into a chronic condition. Tendonitis occurs when a tendon becomes irritated of inflamed. If and when the tendon fails to heal, tendinosis occurs. Tendinosis means that the tendon is degenerated. All tissues of the body are susceptible to degeneration and ultimately do become degenerated when they have inadequate recovery between bouts of use or stress. When joints are put under too much stress for too long a period of time, the ligaments become stretched and degenerated.

The tendinosis figure clearly shows what happens when tissue repair is inadequate. The end result is cell death.

So what are you to do if you have a degenerated tendon, ligament or joint? To repair the structure, first you need Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy stimulates the regeneration of these structures. A typical Prolotherapy patient needs three to six treatments spaced about a month apart. The time in between Prolotherapy treatments is important as it relates to tendinosis healing. In between Prolotherapy visits, the tension on the healing structures must not exceed the strength of the tissues. Thus, the guidelines with exercise between Prolotherapy visits are:

1. No exercise should cause sharp pain.

2. Any pain with exercise should be mild.

3. The mild pain from exercise should go away within two hours after the exercise stops.

4. The exercise must not cause the joint to swell or have heat in it.

5. The exercise should not cause a cracking or clicking sound in the joint.

If a person sticks with these guidelines they will stimulate healing of the tissues versus continued degeneration. Exercise and motion is essential to healing, but it must be kept in check to ensure proper recovery. Once the tissue strength is such that there is no more pain with exercise, the Prolotherapist can be divorced and the patient can go on and have a nice life without tendinosis!